Despite not
appearing complicated, credit card processing is a serious matter for
businesses that are very small in size. It won’t be wrong to say
that their road to accept credit cards is not smooth. Getting
approval for the merchant account, using technologies that are used
by the established companies and staying in tune with the evolving
security protocols is not easy. However, this doesn’t mean that
things are only against these businesses. Very small businesses can
stay ahead with knowledge about the below explained 5 major things
related to credit card processing.
1. Being
familiar with the language
Accepting
credit cards is all about learning a whole new vocabulary in order to
understand how the money flows. To keep away from the headaches and
complex experiences in the future, having some idea about things
happening behind the scenes is quite helpful. The four chief players
of the credit card processing are:
-
Merchant bank: Financial institution that offers merchant account services to ease the transactions to the bank accounts.
-
Processor: Known as the third-party middleman, it handles responsibilities of the merchant bank along with facilitating credit card transactions and routing credit card details to the payment networks and merchant accounts.
-
Issuing bank: Financial institution that issues credit cards to the customers.
-
Card payment brand: Refers to credit card brands such as MasterCard, Discover, Visa and American Express.
2. Find the right credit card processor
Small
business doesn’t mean having limited credit card processing
options. This is because it’s all about the type of business, how
and where it operates and the extent of streamlining needed to run it
easily.
3. Revenue requirements
Meeting
vendor requirements is a challenge for these businesses if they are
not able to generate ample revenue, as credit card processing
companies reject the application. As far as revenue requirements are
there, they differ widely.
Thankfully,
with some research,
finding the credit card processors who meet the needs of very small
businesses is possible.
4. Data security
No matter
the size and chosen processing service, it is important to assure
that the vendor has strict security standards and compliance
measures. These standard comprise of:
-
End-to-end encryption (E2EE)
-
Payment Card Industry (PCI) Data Security Standard
-
Three-digit card verification value (CVV2)
-
Secure sockets layers (SSL) protocol
5. Credit card processing fees
Charges to
accept credit card matter for those who know that credit card
processing costs may affect their bottom line drastically. Some types
of fees these businesses must know about are:
-
Payment gateway fee
-
Transaction fee
-
Monthly minimum fee
-
Statement fee
-
Address verification service (AVS) fee
-
Average discount rates fee
With
this, it’s an end to the discussion crucial facts about credit card processing for small business.
To know more, contacting
the service providers is the best way out.
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